Bells and Whistles
by FlowerofAdversity
Summary: Note: Cars fanfic. Christmas is on its ways and one car in particular Lightning is having a hard time getting gifts for his friends. Edgar the Hearse is surprised by his son Arthur with a holiday in England. The Latinos celebrate Las Posadas. Many c


Note: Cars fanfic. Christmas is on its ways and one car in particular (Lightning) is having a hard time getting gifts for his friends. Edgar the Hearse is surprised by his son Arthur with a holiday in England. The Latinos celebrate Las Posadas. Many celebrations happen in conjunction during this time and it's hard to keep all the different traditions straight but they all unite the cars together as one—Sharing love, friendship and family time.

Chapter 1—Holiday Greetings, Holiday Meetings

It seemed that all vehicles everywhere had begun their treks to visit with family and friends. Of course, some flew (and yes, of course there were those who loathed flying since they were morbidly afraid of heights), but just getting the excersise was the main reason why these vehicles travelled. From Kalamazoo to Timbuktu, everyone had been gathering together to celebrate the holidays. Most vehicles had gone on holiday. For instance, Edgar Coupe had been surprised by his son Arthur with a holiday in Merry Olde England as they always did every year.

The funny thing was, Edgar never expected it and it was always a surprise to him. Arthur was ingenious when he presented the present, and the rest of the season was spent with friends and family he knew back in the burroughs.

Many vehicles had their shopping done ahead of time, but one car in particular was having difficulty searching for gifts he felt would make everyone on his list happy. With all the friends he had now, he had a mammoth shopping list and getting everything purchased would make his task even more arduous than it was before. With this heavy burden in his mind, Lightning sighed.

"It's going to take a _miracle_ to get all of this done in time...", he pondered, lowered on his shocks in a bit of a blue funk. Just then, Mater had come by to ask him if he wanted to go skiing.

"Hey, buddy ! What's wrong, Lightnin' ?", he said, knowing something was up. Usually Lightning was upbeat and spirited but today he wasn't himself.

"_This_ is what's the matter, Mater.", Lightning said, taking the list in his tires and watching it unravel over various pieces of furniture and lamps in his house.

"Oh. Dang.", Mater said, with his grill slightly slackjawed.

"Exactly my point.", Lightning said, sounding forlorn.

"Don't worry about it, buddy. We'll fix this. Come on. I know a great mall we can go to.", Mater sugguested. Sally was out enjoying a spa ticket that had been supplied to her by Carmen and her family, so she would be away for a bit. He thought it over momentarily, although he abhorred shopping.

"Fine. We'll _go_.", Lightning said, reluctantly.

Chapter 2—Last Minute Shopping Chaos

Mater directed Lightning to the nearest shopping mall and they dodged other vehicles to complete Lightning's gargantuan list. It was straining for them both, but it was lucky both of them had trunks to carry around the gifts or they would've never gotten home. But then the unthinkable happened. There weren't enough clerks in the checking aisles. Most of the clerks had either gone out to lunch with family or they were sick from the cold and flu the season had brought this year.

"Oh, dang.", Mater said, his expression looking like a car that knew it was about to be runover by an oncoming train. Lightning lowered his hood and glowered.

"Sometimes, I hate the holidays.", he murmured to himself. All the while the hours seemed to drag on until finally more lanes were opened and Mater and Lightning were checked out in record time. But they still had to face the traffic back to Radiator Springs. To make matters even worse, it had begun to snow.

"Crud.", Lightning swore under his breath.

"No worries, buddy. We'll be back before Christmas.", Mater mentioned, optimistically.

Chapter 3—Festivities

All around the country, even after donning ornaments and other decorations everywhere, there were celebrations happening almost simultaniously. In many Latin areas, vehicles of all ages were enjoying Las Posadas, the traditional procession of two cars that took the place of Mary and Joseph's journey into Bethlahem, followed by caroling children, others who turned the couple away, and then the one family that had been chosen to welcome them did so with plenty of fanfare and of course..._food_.

Back in Radiator Springs, the festivities had only just begun. Sarge and Robin were nestled under a sprig of mistletoe, kissing and cuddling. Fillmore and Star couldn't help but say "Awww" in unison. Instead of being the loveable crumudgeon that he is, Sarge smiled and actually let Fillmore _hug_ him.

"Merry Christmas, ya hippie !", Sarge said, in an unusually gentle tone. Fillmore laughed.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Sarge.", Fillmore said, hugging him back. The four drove their opposite ways and joined the others in caroling.

"I'm startin' to get a little worried about Lightning. It's been 7 hours already and he hasn't come home.", Sherrif said, becoming concerned.

"It's Lightning, Sherrif. He can take care of himself. I just know he'll be home soon.", Sally said, in a in a hopeful tone.

"She's right you know.", Viola added, with a cute grin. Sherrif sighed. Somehow he had a feeling that Sally and his beloved Viola. Just as they had been talking about him, he and Mater had appeared, and it was only a few more minutes until Christmas Day !

Sally kissed Lightning in front of everyone, but Lightning didn't mind the public display of affection in front of all of his friends. Mater nudged him a bit, jokingly. Lightning simply looked at him and rolled his eyes.

"And now what you've all be waiting for. PRESENTS !", Mater said, joyfully. One by one, he passed out the presents for everyone and in a mad rush, everyone opened their presents in unison.

After everyone had relished their gifts for the holidays, there was a loud squeal from Robin.

Doc thought something was the matter until he saw that she had said yes to Sarge's proposition and had received a rather large diamond lugnut for engagement.

"Sarge, you old dog, I didn't know you had it in you !", Doc said with a bit of a sly smile.

"What do you _mean_ by that, Doc ?", Sarge asked, completely clueless as to what Doc meant. Robin tittered lightly and kissed her beloved Sarge, thanking him again for the thousanth time.

Chapter 4—Still More Surprises

Christmas might've come and gone quickly, but all vehicles young and old could be seeing playing with each other and enjoying the time they had together before going back to school. It woudln't be too much longer until 2007. Times Sqaure would be the busiest place of all in the entire world and everyone would be watching the brightly colored ball drop as it heralded in the New Year. Many new year's resolutions were already being made, but sticking with those plans happened to be tougher than expected for some vehicles. But, they were only vehicles after all and had flaws (even though the rough and tumble ones didn't like admitting that).

After having her usual check-up from Doc, Sally had marvelous news to tell Lightning, her husband.

"We're going to have a baby, honey !", she said, happily. Lightning never thought of himself as a dad, but he was looking forward to having a child sometime in August. He knew Sally would make an incredible mother.

"This is the best gift a car could ever ask for.", he said, nuzzling next to her. There was a chorus of "awws" surrounding them at the time, and the happy couple couldn't help but beam proud smiles to their friend. It was so amazing to be part of the miracle of automotive life.

Meanwhile in jolly olde England, father and son were having a merry time at the Pickadilly Circus when the happened upon an old friend. It was the doctor who had made it possible for Edgar to adopt Arthur in the first place. The two embraced and shared stories of times gone by, including their bowling matches. Grandpa Brum simply laughed.

"You're a great gutter duster, m' boy.", he said, in his usual happy-go-lucky tone. It was so ironic, him being an undertaker and parson, to have such a uplifting demeanor. Though these meetings were enjoyable, they would come to an end sometime. Before long, Arthur and Edgar would be returning home and getting back to work at the morgue.

Elsewhere, the Lovecrafts were celebrating and welcoming home their wandering traveler, Laid Back Jack. Jack had visited friends in Radiator Springs, and had even been down the Heartland road to see Smokey Joe BelAir and his wife Jessie. The BelAir clan had reunited, even the two Irocs that Smokey had taken under his wing. Jack had been brought to tears being with family wherever he went, but they were always filled with joy and elation. He knew that wherever he went, his family would be there to support him, and uplift him whenever times were rough.

Even though many vehicles would have to travel home to work after vacation, they would still be watching the ball drop on New Year's Eve. Each car, bus, train, plane, tank, golf cart, or whatever else, celebrated in a different way. But like Christmas, it was a time when any vehicle could reconnect and rejuvenate himself and be reminded that optimism and love were the best commodities life had to offer. Though sometimes they came in short supply, these things were always savored and languished.

Lizzie had turned on her "radio" just in time for Dick Cark's "Rockin' New Year's Eve" special. She was rocking back and forth on her shocks in time with the "new fangled" music.

"I don't know what this is called, but I _like_ it.", she said, moving and grooving. Ramone chuckled slightly as he watched Lizzie, especially since she was sporting a new holiday themed paintjob. In fact, _everyone_ was. It was the tradition to do so, and even those scrooges who didn't care much for the holidays were decked out in the season's hottest colors. New coats of paint would be going on soon after New Year's, so Ramone would be busy. But at least he had his _hijos y hijas_ helping him, and they were quite the artists.

Doc's smile brightened as he watched his adopted son and his wife cuddling together watching the television as the ball began to drop. He felt a sense of peace being among all of these other cars, and knew they would always be there for him whenever he felt a bit run down.

He thanked his lucky stars for his blessings and grew excited as the big silver ball began to lower on the small screen TV. Every car began counting in unison, and the voices could be heard world wide...

_10_

_9_

_8_

_7_

_6_

_5_

_4_

_3_

_2_

_1..._

_HAPPY NEW YEAR !_

The confetti went everywhere and new couples, old and young embraced, kissed and even danced as they welcomed the new year into being. It was time for sleep, though, since a lot of vehicles had stayed up far past their bedtime, but after sleeping for a while, they would welcome the first day of the New Year with pomp, circumstance, gayity and jocularity.

Epilogue

Before long, Sarge and Robin had decided to get married in January. Though it was still cold outside, their wedding was held inside a roasty-toasty chapel not too far away from Ornament Valley. The couple was picture perfect and bursting all over with pride and love. What was even more of a surprise was the fact that Sherrif and Viola caught the bouquet. When this had happened, Viola's amythest eyes lit up, sparkling euphorically. Sherrif blushed darkly, and it was a good thing he was a black Mercury or the others would've notice his cheeks turning cherry red. Everyone, particularly the Delinquents had a good laugh at that, but it was all meant in fun.

Matters quieted down soon after all the celebrations were over and life returned to the usual pace it had been everywhere. Radiator Springs was still festive in aura, as were other areas in the world. The spirit of the season hadn't really died. Cars were taking it more as a daily happening to be kind and give and be more considerate. Matters simply seemed to work easier that way when they did. Though families had since said their goodbyes from Christmas reunions, they still conversed through phone, letters and emails as much as they could. And the lesson from the holiday remained clear: Do good, love each other, and no matter how many twists and turns the road takes, you always have someone who needs you wherever you may go.

The End


End file.
